The present invention generally relates to low speed vehicles or heavy Quadra cycles as they exist in Europe that can travel on roads having speed-controlled zones of less than 60 km per hour for the speed vehicles, but can also be applied to other vehicles travelling at higher speeds as the heavy Quadra cycle. The present invention is specifically related to electrically driven vehicles where the prime source of energy comes from batteries or fuel cells.
There presently exist electrical vehicles on the market. Most of these vehicles have been designed for transport of one or two people and are generally all-terrain vehicles.
Major manufacturers of golf carts (E-Z Go, Columbia, Club Car, Yamaha) offer versions of low speed vehicles (LSV) derived from their original platforms. Costs for these vehicles are around $15,000 US. Sale networks for these vehicles are well established (more than 700 retailers) and several of them offer more than one brand. There exists in this network of retailers a large number of companies offering golf cart conversion services (more than 70) who, more specifically, offer transformations of LSVs or entirely modified golf carts. Costs for such vehicles can reach up to $18,000 US in certain areas of the United States. The sale network for these vehicles is established among distributors through catalogues and e-commerce. Two manufacturers, GEM and Dynasty, have developed their own LSV platform. Their prices range between $10,000 US and $16,000 US. GEM, through its alliance with an automobile manufacturer, benefits from a part of an organized network of Chrysler retailers (around 30 in the United States). These two latter manufacturers aim to put emphasis on e-commerce in order to commercialize their products. Manufacturers of traditional gas consuming all-terrain vehicles offer a wide range of products and accessories that are adaptable to allow their transformation into special mobile equipment.
John Deere, a pioneer in this sector offers an electrical version of its product in order to distance itself from its principal competitors (Kawasaki, Kubota). This type of vehicle offers very little autonomy to users and is in direct competition with the Club Car model.
Manufacturers of tractors and power-lift trucks (Taylor Dunn, Cusham) have been offering for several years special mobile equipment destined for industrial use on fairly even surfaces such as in superstore-type buildings. Since their manufacturing is on an industrial basis, the technology used is largely inspired by power-lift trucks or golf carts. The prices of these special mobile vehicles range between $14,000 and $25,000 US. The retailing network for these products has been developed around exclusive regional distributors specialized in industrial power-lift trucks and tractors.
Consequently, there is still presently a need for a low-cost electrical vehicle that can carry significant charges while offering autonomy over longer distances.